The present invention relates generally to methods and apparatuses for displaying autoflight information, such as autothrottle and/or autopilot mode information.
Modern commercial transport aircraft are controlled by automatic flight control devices during many and sometimes all segments of a typical flight. The automatic flight control devices typically include an autothrottle that controls engine thrust, and an autopilot that controls both pitch attitude (via the aircraft elevators) and roll attitude (via the aircraft ailerons). Information regarding the status and activities of the flight control devices is typically displayed on a display device, such as a CRT, LCD or other graphical user interface.
FIG. 1 illustrates a typical display device 10 that presents a display 30 in accordance with the prior art. The display 30 includes an air speed display 33, an altitude display 34, an attitude display 35, and a heading display 36. The display 30 also includes a series of annunciators, each indicating (via a textual shorthand) which of a variety of pre-defined modes a corresponding one of the automatic flight control devices is operating in. For example, the display 30 can include an autothrottle mode annunciator 55, a roll mode annunciator 66, and a pitch mode annunciator 45. In the particular configuration shown in FIG. 1, xe2x80x9cSPDxe2x80x9d indicates that the aircraft autothrottle is controlling the engine thrust based on a target aircraft speed. xe2x80x9cLOCxe2x80x9d indicates that the roll control portion of the autopilot is controlling to maintain a track on a localizer beam, and xe2x80x9cG/Sxe2x80x9d indicates that the pitch control portion of the autopilot is controlling the elevators based on a target glide slope.
FIG. 2 illustrates a separate display device 10a that presents an engine indication display 60 in accordance with the prior art. The display 60 can include graphical depictions of the exhaust pressure ratio (EPR), engine RPM (N1) and exhaust gas temperature (EGT) for each engine. The display 60 can also include a textual thrust limit indicator 62a, a numerical thrust limit indicator 62b, and a numerical actual thrust indicator 61.
One drawback with the display 30 described above with reference to FIG. 1 is that the mode annunciators are relatively cryptic and require the pilot to memorize the type of action performed by each flight control device in each mode. A drawback with the engine indication display 60 shown in FIG. 2 is that it requires the pilot to look at a separate display for engine information. Accordingly, the pilot may need to move his or her eyes back and forth between multiple displays to understand various aspects of the flight control operation.
The present invention is directed toward methods and systems for displaying information corresponding to the operation of automatic aircraft controllers. The method can be implemented on a computer, a computer readable medium, or a computer system. For example, if the automatic aircraft controller is controlling an aircraft function based at least in part on a target aircraft speed, the method can include displaying alphanumeric information corresponding to the operation of the automatic aircraft controller at a first location of a display medium. The method can further include (if the automatic aircraft controller is not controlling the aircraft function based at least in part on the target aircraft speed), displaying the alphanumeric information at a second location of the display medium different than the first location.
In a further aspect of the invention, the method can include displaying an aircraft speed at a first region of the display medium and displaying an aircraft altitude at a second region of the display medium different than the first region. Displaying the alphanumeric information at the first location can include displaying at least a portion of the alphanumeric information at least proximate to the first region of the display medium, and displaying the alphanumeric information at the second location can include displaying at least a portion of the alphanumeric information at least proximate to the second region of the display medium. In one aspect of the invention, the automatic aircraft controller can include an autopilot, and in another aspect of the invention, the automatic aircraft controller can include an autothrottle. In still a further aspect of the invention, the automatic aircraft controller can operate according to a plurality of predetermined modes, and displaying alphanumeric information can include displaying alphanumeric information corresponding to an identity of at least one of the modes.
A method in accordance with another aspect of the invention includes displaying information corresponding to the operation of an aircraft engine. The method can include displaying on a display medium first information corresponding to an operation of at least one of an aircraft autopilot and an aircraft autothrottle. The method can further include displaying on the display medium second information corresponding to a performance of an aircraft engine, with the second information being positioned at least proximate to the first information on the display medium. In a further aspect of the invention, the second information can include at least one of a thrust limit and an actual thrust level, and in yet a further aspect, the second information can include a graphical representation of the actual thrust level.